Tool



Jan. 27, 1942. E. EcHlKsoN TOOL Filed Sept. 6, 1940 yIQVENTOR.

Patented Jan. 27, 1942 UNrreD STATES l` TOOL Elchanaln Echikson, Newark, N. J.,-assignor to Pioneer Tool Co., Inc., Bloomfield, N. J., a corv poration of New Jersey Application September 6, 1940, Serial No. 355,642

' k2 claims. (c1. 3ra-an) This invention relates to improvements in tools and is directed more particularly to the to the provision of a novel tool construction of the putty knive or wall scraper type where there is a blade having a shank and a handle is asse ciated vwith the shank.

It is one of the principal objects of the inven' -f tion to provide a tool having a distinctive handle which not only serves to ornament the tool but which permits more efficient and facile use l thereof. As will appear, I prefer that the handle forming part or parts be formed of a plastic material since such material readily lends itself to the operations and purposes which willv be obvious as the following description is enfoldecl.

It is accordingly another object of. this invention to overcome this objection. .AsA will appear, it is principally accomplished by providing a construction wherein the shank is more or less encased in the handle and is such that the rivets or securing means does not have to be as tight as formerly.

With vthe foregoing and-various other novel features andadvantages and other objectsrof my While I have shown, and am about to describe,

the invention with particular respect to a putty knife, it is to be understood that the new fea-v tures herein disclosed may be embodied.' in tools or devices of a different nature, such as wallr It might be well to refer to prior practice asT such as several disadvantages which the present invention overcomes. Wooden or plastic handles have been provided where there are a pair of half-parts or shells riveted to and disposed adjacent opposite sides of the shank of the blade member with the marginal edges'ofy the shank exposed.

It is very desirable in tools of this type that the working parts thereof,` which, of course, are

usually formed of steel, be tempered. The trade,

for the most part, at least, will not accept tools having untempered blades'.

Unfortunately, however, the tempering results in the steels becoming black, rough, and sealy which have obvious commercial objections. AThe Y,

color is not attractive and the roughness of the exposed edges is unkind to the hands. so that the practice has been to polish the metal which is an expensive operation.

A further objectto such prior practice has been that where plastic has been used, it heats up and melts during the polishingl or smoothing operation. This, of course, is far from desirable.

Again, the prior practice has been such that I it is impossible to obtain a tight fit between the shells and the shank. That is to say, the holes and rivets inevitably wear with the result that the blade soon is permitted to shiftv relative tof the handle.

ystruction associated therewith;

invention as will become more apparent as the description proceeds, the invention consists in certainy novel features of construction and in the combination vand arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more particularly vpointed out in the claims hereunto annexed andmore fully described and referred to in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein:

Fig. 1 isa plan view of the working member of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view showing the innerl side of one of a pair of membersfor forming the preferred form ofv handle ofy the invention;

Fig. 3 is a plan view showing a working-member having the preferred formof handle con- Fig. 4 is a sectional view on theline -A of Fig. 1; and l Fig. 5 is a plan View showing the inner side of a modified form of handle-making member.

Referring now to the drawing. more in detail, the invention will be fully described.

The Working member of the invention is indicated generally by 2 and usually includes a bladelike part 4 and a shank part such as 6. According to the form shown, the shank is of less Width than the body part 4 and is provided with one or more apertures such as 8.

The whole member 2 is preferably formed from a sheet of steel so as to be relatively Athin vand of substantially uniform thickness. When there is more than one aperture 8, they may be of different shapes as shown.

One of a pair of complementally-'formed handle-making members` is shown at I0 and each of these is more or less shell-like in nature las suggested in Figs. 2 and 4. IAccording to this invention, they are formed of a plastic material which is readily moldable intol desired formk and size, capable of both decoration and of being `suitably ornamentative, and of being more or.

colored or otherwise ornamented, all with economy and ease.

Furthermore, when a transparent plastic material is-used, such as I prefer, theshells will permit the purchaser to observe therethrough that the shank part of the wo-rking member is relatively blackened, all of which indicates to the average person in the trade that the steel has been tempered, as he practically insists, and at the same time permits various attractive effects to be attained. In other words, the principal advantages of the tempering of the steel, such as the color-indicating feature, are attained while at the same time, such disadvantages thereof as the roughness of its edges, for instance, are overcome.

These shells may be formed to have flanges I2 extending substantially peripherally of their body parts, which are usually relatively fiat and plate-like. Extending inwardly from these flanges and outwardly from the said body parts are two or more ribk parts I4. These extend to slightly below the planes of the inner marginal edges of the shells flanges and are arranged as to provide ledge-like portions substantially as shown in Fig. 4.

That is to say, the shells are arranged to be fitted complementally with the inner marginal edges of their parts I2 in abutment so as to form a hollow casing with the inwardly-extending ribs I4 thereof having opposed marginal edges spaced to provide ledge-like surfaces between which the marginal edge portions of the shank 2 may be disposed.

There also are preferably one or more bosses I extending outwardly or upwardly from the inner surface of each shells body and these have aligned openings I8 to receive securing members such as rivets 20 which will extend through such aligned bosses and through such holes 8 as are provided in the shank.

In the preferred assembled form, the shells or half-parts I are brought together as described and the various parts are so formed that the shank 6 is relatively encased and a smooth outside surface may be readily obtained as suggested in Fig. 4. Such surface permits facile and eiicient handling of the tool without injurious effects but the working or blade members shank is visible, provided the shells are relatively transparent as preferred and described, so that their tempered condition may be recognized.

Heating, and consequent melting, of the plastic is avoided because the shells may be so readily and economically molded to desired form. This avoidance is partly made possible because the shank is encased, lwherefore its edges do not have vto be smoothed as was the old custom, and because the fitting parts can be so easily made to have smooth and properly-coinciding outside surfaces.

To put it another way, the marginal edges of the shank part of the working member are no longer exposed but at the same time the black A modified form of the invention is shown in Fig. 5. Here there is a pair of shell or half-parts, one being indicated generally by Ill', each substantially similar to the members I0 previously described. These are molded or formed to have side walls or flanges I2I extending outwardly in one direction from a main body wall and to have an inner continuous ledge-forming part I4 extending circumferentially of the shell substantially as shown.

The outer rims of the parts I2 of a co-operating pair of shells are intended to abut and when in properly assembled relation, a hollow casing is provided for receiving the shank of the tool. The ledges I4' are spaced downwardly or inwardly from the outer marginal edges of the peripheral anges of the shells and thus there is provided a circumferential slot extending around the interior of the casing.

It is within this slot, or between these ledges I 4 of a pair, that the marginal edge portions of the shank are received. Bosses I6', similar to bosses I6, are preferably provided and these are apertured at I 8' to receive rivets or lthe like in a manner similar to what has been described.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the essential characteristics thereof. Hence, the present embodiments are therefore to'be considered in all respects merely as being illustrative and not as being restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all modifications and variations as fall within the meaning and purview and range of equivalency of the appended claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

What it is desired to claim and secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A tool of the class described comprising in combination, a working member having a striplike shank part, a handle member encasing said shank part and consisting of a pair of substantially similar and separate cup-shaped parts having body portions at opposite sides of said shank part and flange portions, the rims of said `flange portions being disposed in abutment with one another and adjacent side edges of said shank part, partition-like portions extending inwardly of said flange portions and terminating at a distance inwardly of said rims thereof and in bearing engagement with opposite faces of said shank part, and means securing said members together.

2. A tool of the class described comprising in combination, a working member having a striplike shank part, a handle member encasing said shank part and consisting of a pair of separate and substantially similar cup-shaped parts, each of said cup-shaped parts including a main body portion spaced from said shank part and side flanges, said flanges having their rims disposed in abutment with one anotherandadjacent side edges of said shank part, partition-like portions extending inwardly from said side flanges and terminating at a distance inwardly of the Said rims and in bearing engagement with opposite faces of said shank part, bosses extending inwardly from the body portions of the cup-shaped parts and in bearing engagement with opposite faces of said shank part, and means extending through said bosses and securing said members together.

ELCHANAN ECHIKSON. 

